Antenatal Diagnosis of Marginal and Velamentous Placental Cord Insertion and Pregnancy Outcomes

Abstract

To evaluate the association between antenatal diagnosis of velamentous and marginal placental cord insertions with adverse perinatal outcomes of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) birth weight (less than the 5th percentile), caesarean birth, and perinatal mortality. Using a diagnostic imaging database, we performed a cohort study of all consecutive singleton pregnancies (35,391), including 1,427 cases of marginal and 107 cases of velamentous cord insertion, delivered after 24 6/7 weeks of gestation between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2015, at a single Canadian tertiary care center. Cases with placenta previa, vasa previa, no documented cord insertion, or fetal anomalies were excluded. In the overall cohort, the rate of birth weight less than the 5th percentile was 5.2%, the rate of cesarean delivery was 27.1%, and the rate of perinatal mortality was 0.24%. Velamentous cord insertion was associated with SGA (relative risk [RR] 2.19, 95% CI 1.28-3.74). This persisted after controlling for smoking during pregnancy, diabetes, and hypertension (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.98, 95% CI 1.03-3.84). Velamentous cord insertion was also associated with an increased risk of caesarean birth (RR=1.38, 95% CI=1.08-1,77) and perinatal death (1.87%, RR 8.15, 95% CI 2.02-32.8), a relationship that persisted after controlling for smoking during pregnancy, diabetes, and hypertension (aOR 1.53, 95% CI 1.01-2.32). Marginal cord insertion was not associated with birth weight less than the 5th percentile (RR 1.23, 95% CI 1.00-1.51), cesarean delivery (RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.92-1.10), or perinatal death (RR 1.53, 95% CI 0.62-3.78). Antenatal diagnosis of velamentous placental cord insertion is associated with birth weight less than the 5th percentile.